Autumn Leaves
by Shadow Haloed Angel
Summary: A Collection of fluffy SephCloud oneshots, like Simple Pleasures only for Autumn - Cloud teaches Sephiroth about the joys of Autumn.
1. Autumn Leaves

Cloud smiled, taking a deep breath of the cool, crisp Autumn air as he walked out of the house. His hair was as spiky and blonde as ever, shining softly in the sun. His cheeks flushed slightly with the cool wind which buffeted him, carrying scents of smoke from bonfires, and the hint of the rain which had fallen just a few hours before. He strolled to the store, whistling as he went, the stripy scarf around his neck fluttering slightly in the breeze. He loved this time of year.

When he returned a few hours later he had a new rake which he was carrying over his shoulder. He set to work in the garden immediately, raking together all the leaves into massive piles.

Sephiroth was sitting at his desk doing paperwork, occasionally looking up out of the window into the garden. He blinked a few times to see his young lover working so enthusiastically. He could see the endeavour had to be in vain, there were still so many leaves ont he trees which would inevitably fall off, meaning the young SOLDIER would just have to rake them up all over again. The work had to be hard, it was chilly and the ground was muddy from the rain, meaning it would be messy work. He shook his head and went back to work.

The next time the silver haired General looked up he saw a blonde spiky blur sprint past the window and launch itself into the air, landing in the leaf pile, sending the carefully gathered leaves everywhere. Cloud was laughing happily, looking so alive, so exhilarated. Sephiroth blinked, it didn't make sense! Why go to all the trouble of raking the leaves together in order just to jump in them and send them flying everywhere? His curiousity got the better of him and he put his pen down, getting up to go and ask.

When he reached the back garden, Cloud was once more raking the leaves into a massive pile, breath misting in the cool air, a massive grin on his face, eyes shining.

Sephiroth cleared his throat softly, expression one of genuine confusion. Cloud looked up and smiled dropping the rake and embracing the taller man.

"Hello Sephy! Sick of the paperwork?"

"I am nearly finished, and I will admit it was becoming a little repetitive..." the General admitted, basically agreeing with him. "But I was confused as to what you were doing...I don't understand why you would waste time and energy raking leaves when there are still so many to come down, or why, having raked them you then jumped in them and destroyed your work..."

Cloud laughed, a tinkling sound which never failed to bring a corresponding smile to Sephiroth's own face. "Because it's fun!"

Sephiroth blinked "I do not understand... why?"

Cloud smiled "Let me finish this pile and we can jump in it together..."

Sephiroth wrinkled his nose slightly "But it has made you messy..." he looked up and down, noting the mud stains on Cloud's clothes.

Cloud shrugged "Clothes can be washed and we can shower... it's worth it!"

Sephiroth sighed "Fine, I shall partake in this once, but I must insist that if I am to jump, I must at least help you rake..." Cloud smiled and handed it over, getting some gardening gloves for himself and helping build up the pile again. Sephiroth was a very efficient worker and before long they had all the leaves in the garden once more in a massive pile.

Cloud threw his gloves off and grabbed Sephiroth's hand, dragging him to the end of the garden. The silver haired man dropped the rake in surprise and followed obediently. Cloud was grinning, eyes shining "Three... two... one...GO!" he started running towards the leaves for all he was worth, jumping in, Sephiroth on his heels. The General had to admit it was certainly exhilarating! The leaves flew up around them as the landed, and, laughing, Cloud threw a handful at him. Before he knew what he was doing, Sephiroth retaliated and they descended into a leaf war with damp handfuls.

They whiled away the rest of the afternoon in combat with both the leaves and each other, before finally trudging inside, muddy, exhausted, but delighted when the sun finally began to set.


	2. Conkers and Juice

Cloud dragged Sephiroth up and out of bed early one October morning. The General blinked several times as the other wrapped him in a coat and scarf.

"What are we doing Cloud? It's early, you don't have training today, and I do not have to be in the office for another two hours..."

"I want to teach you a game, but we need to get the stuff for it!" Cloud beamed, enthusiasm showing in his face "It's one I used to play as a child, and I want to teach you, because it's fun!"

Sephiroth blinked again, but nodded his hesitant assent.

When they reached a park near their house, Cloud began looking around at the trees. Sephiroth stayed silent, watching, then blinking in confusion as Cloud ran towards one which, to him, looked to be the same as any other tree. The blonde began scrabbling in the foliage lying on the ground beneath the tree. Sephiroth tentatively began copying him.

Cloud crowed in delight and held up what looked to be a shiny brown nut.

"Yes! Found one! Look Seph, you want big ones!"

Sephiroth obediently began hunting.

After about half an hour when each of them had found lots of the Horsechestnuts and each ahd chosen about six of their best discoveries, Cloud declared that they now had sufficient supplies.

They walked home and the blonde grinned "We need a knitting needle or something now... and some string..."

Sephiroth stared at him "Whatever for? What are these things anyway?"

"They're called Conkers! It's because when they hit you on the head it goes 'conk'! We need to make holes in them and thread them on strings, and then we try to destroy each other's Conkers! It's brilliant, I promise!"

Sephiroth shrugged. It didn't sound overwhelming, but the blonde was so happy about it he couldn't bear to crush him. He shivered a little and went to find something to pierce the strange nuts with.

Cloud noticed the shiver and frowned "Seph? You cold?"

The General shrugged "A little..."

Cloud smiled "Then it's time for my Mother's favourite part of Autumn..."

He grabbed a carton of apple juice from the cupboard and poured it into a saucepan. Sephiroth edged away to find a knitting needle. His experiences of spiky haired people cooking had, until now, revolved only around Zack, something which imbued him with caution.

He dug around for about ten minutes before finding a skewer which for some reason had appeared in the top drawer of his desk. He carried it back towards the kitchen, and sniffed. Something smelt delicious, like apple, but more...

He walked back into the kitchen and Cloud handed him a mug of warm brown liquid with very aromatic steam.

Sephiroth paused "...what is it?"

"Spiced apple juice! It's got cloves and cinammon and other stuff in it, it's great for warming you up!" Cloud smiled as he sipped his own mug.

Sephiroth bit his lip, then decided to trust his lover. First he sniffed it, the vapours alone made him feel as if he hadn't just been outside at six in the morning. He took a small sip and felt the golden liquid slide across his tongue. Warm, exotic, delicious. He smiled tentatively "I think I like this part of Autumn..."


	3. Halloween I

AN: this is the first of two chapters about Halloween, sorry it's been so delayed, but it's been a case of thrashing it out I'm afraid, it was really hard to write! Hope you enjoy anyway!

Cloud was dragging Sephiroth around the local supermarket, and the General was pushing the supermarket. Cloud began throwing brightly coloured packets of fun-size chocolate and sweets into the cart and Sephiroth blinked.

"...uh... what are you doing?"

"We need stuff for the trick or treaters!"

"The what?"

Cloud blinked "The trick or treaters! It's Halloween!"

Sephiroth frowned "What? What's Halloween?"

Cloud froze, jaw dropping, staring at him.

"You don't know what Halloween is?"

"No..." Cloud stood, staring at him for a few seconds "Okay, Halloween education starts now... and you're lucky that I found this out before Zack..."

Sephiroth blinked several times and backed a few steps away.

Cloud pulled him around the store and through the checkouts in a blur, then sat him down in the cafe with a coffee.

"Right, first things first, Halloween is the 31st of October. It was originally a pagan holiday to chase away evil spirits, and so even now some of those traditions still hold true. Spirits were supposed to walk abroad on Halloween night, so it's also supposed to be the night you're most likely to see ghosts. These days it's a fun time for children to dress up in costumes and go trick or treating - they go from house to house for candy and sweets. It's about telling scary stories and being scared even though there's no real danger. Ghosts and skeletons and devils and witches... all the traditional scary stuff is a big part of Halloween. It's just a chance to have fun."

Sephiroth blinked, eyes wide "I... I'd never even heard of it..."

Cloud embraced him gently and kissed his cheek "It's okay... we can celebrate it together..."

Sephiroth bit his lip "Really? Could we... maybe... get some costumes too? Just to give the treats out I mean... but.. it sounds like it might be..." he looked down sadly "fun..."

Cloud nodded "Of course..." he hugged Sephiroth tightly, resolving that he was going to show Sephiroth what real Halloween was about. All he had to do was give Zack a call...


	4. Halloween II

Sephiroth blinked as Cloud squinted into the mirror, painting on his nose. He smiled at the way his lover had to keep pausing because the sensation of the paint made his nose twitch.

"You make a good cat..."

Cloud turned and smiled, clip on ears nested in his spiky blond hair, tail weaving behind him.

"Thank you... you make a good grim reaper..." Sephiroth smiled shyly from under the cowl.

"It's not too much?" the older man asked, plucking nervously at his robe.

"No, Halloween's about being scary. Anyway, you look so nervous and wellmeaning you'll probably be deluged in small children wanting hugs." Cloud replied with a laugh.

Sephiroth blinked innocently "But it's ok?"

Cloud embraced him and kissed him softly "It's fine... I promise, you look perfect..." the blonde man began rummaging in a cupboard, retrieving brightly coloured packets full of sugar packed sweets and enough E-numbers to send a whole playground of children high. "You light the pumpkin..." he called over his shoulder, and Sephiroth nodded.

The General picked up the Jack O' Lantern they had carved together the night before, and set it in the window sill, lifting the top out and lighting the candle, replacing the top and smiling to see the reflection glittering in the window.

When he turned back, Cloud embraced him once more. Just as their lips met, the first knock sounded at the door, and the evening's first cries of "Trick or Treat!" rang out through the air.

Sephiroth couldn't help it, and as he helped hand out the candy, his lips curved up in a smile which stayed on his face all night. Just because Halloween was supposed to be scary, didn't mean it couldn't be fun.

When it got to about nine o' clock and the trickle had slowed a little, Cloud blew the lantern out. Sephiroth blinked "Isn't that the sign that we have candy to give out?"

Cloud nodded "Yes it is, but we have something else to do now..."

Sephiroth's brow furrowed slightly, but he put down the bowl still half full of brightly wrapped sweets and followed Cloud out into the street.

The yellow-haired man handed the taller SOLDIER a bucket shaped like a pumpkin and beamed "Come on, we're going trick or treating!"

"I thought you said that was only something children did..."

"It is, but you've never been, so I spoke to a few people and now we are going!"

Sephiroth beamed even wider than when he'd been distributing sweets. He hadn't had much sugar in his life, but he'd liked what he'd tried.

Cloud led Sephiroth up the path to a house with spiderwebs draped over the porch. He knocked and the door creaked open ominously, creepy organ music echoing tinnily out from the dimly lit hallway. Genesis stood there, silhoutted in the doorway, lurid red plastic horns on his head, a tail attached to the back of a red leather bodysuit sticking out behind him, and a trident in one hand. He winked at Cloud, who squealed

"Trick or Treat!"

Angeal emerged, wearing a toga and looking slightly less than enthusiastic about it. He was carrying a bowl of plastic wrapped pure sugar, and Cloud grabbed a handful to drop in his bucket, Sephiroth tentatively following suit. He made a mental note to write his two friends a thank you note for helping him experience Halloween.

The door of the next house Cloud led him towards flew open before they got anywhere near it, and a Frankenstein's puppy zoomed out and glomped the General, knocking him to the floor. Cloud rolled his eyes and helped Sephiroth up when Zack finally moved away.

Zack cleared his throat and tried to look intimidating, tail wagging frantically behind him.

"If you want your treats, you have to face the challenge of the grave!" he sounded like he was following a supposedly creepy script, but was definitely overenthusiastic, rather taking away from the scariness of the idea.

Cloud grinned "What do we have to do?"

Zack beamed "Follow me!"

The two others followed the puppy around the side of the house, to a mocked up grave.

"Reach in, if you dare... who knows whether you'll get a treat or a bone..."

Cloud knelt and put his hand in first, pulling out a handful of chocolate eyeballs. Sephiroth bit his lip and took his turn, jumping a little as he felt something cool and gelatinous against his hand. He pulled out some jelly worms and smiled, putting them in his bucket. When he stood again he dusted off the front of his robes and hugged Cloud close, whispering

"Thank you... this was the best Halloween ever..."


End file.
